April 29, 2013

Today is the Grand Opening of my Etsy Shop! And I couldn't be more excited!I want to say thank you to Husband; he has supported me and helped me in so many ways. He pushes me to think about things differently and more in depth. He has rallied behind me anytime I have wanted to give up. Thank you Husband for being so great!

In Honor of today's opening I am doing a giveaway! Whoop! Whoop! I'm so excited about this giveaway!

April 24, 2013

Today's life drawing was hard. So much so that when I went to the bathroom I took extra time and just stared at myself in the mirror thinking, "okay, I'm going to draw my face sometime... I see it all the time, maybe it will be easier..." And then God's smiled at me. How amazing is God handy work? He has crafted each and every one of us. He created my lines.

The class was fuller today then usual. I get a little more self conscious when there are more people able to glance over my shoulder, even though in all reality they aren't looking at my drawings, they are focusing on the model and looking at their own drawings.

I kept telling myself today, "keep trying, keep trying. It's just lines, just draw the lines. Just draw the shapes." Easier said then done. I will keep trying.

We started with 1's (one minute poses) and then moved on to 5's (five minute poses.)

We did ten 1's. Above is my first page.

This is the beginning of my 5's. Husband helped with the drawing on the right. He drew the face.

I got pretty discouraged, so I started drawing the stage and basically any other objects lying around. After the class I chatted with Husband and Dennis and shared with them my struggles. I had a hard time getting past the shape of the model. I kept telling them that he just looked boxy. Husband suggested that next time if those are the shapes that I see to just go with it and draw him as boxes.

April 23, 2013

Today I am sharing about my DIY wedding jewelry and one of the photos I am sharing today is from our wedding, done by the fabulous Angela J Martin, check our her blog, and take a peak at our wedding.

I got married almost a year ago and through the pre-wedding process I had spent hours and hours seeking inspiration. There were a couple of things that I knew exactly what I wanted and one of those things was that I wanted my wedding to be a DIY wedding, filled with love from our friends and family. One of my favorite DIY items was my wedding jewelry.

April 17, 2013

Every time I go to life drawing class it gets a little easier and I start to feel more comfortable. When I first started going I felt like a poser and I did my best to cover each drawing with my hand so that no one could see it. The class takes place at Husband's work, so the majority of those attending are "seasoned" artists. Some of them may not agree with that term, "seasoned," because so many of them are humble in their craft and discussions I have had with them usually involve their own ideas for personal improvement.

Before class started I decided I would warm up, which for me means drawing circles on a page. However, I didn't want to waste paper so I decided I would just do the motion with my arm. It then turned into me walking around Husband's office, telling everyone I was "churning the butter." I love that term now and I will hopefully being asking everyone if they have, "churned the butter."

We started with 2's (two minute poses) and ended with 5's (five minute poses.)

I felt pretty good about my 2's, but started to struggle with my 5's. There was a point during the class that I felt tired and unmotivated, but I did my best the push through.

I was pretty excited with my drawings from today. It is always exciting to look back from the beginning and see the improvements I've made.

April 10, 2013

Do you ever wonder what happened to your childhood dreams? We all had them; being a dancer, being an artist, being an actor, being an astronaut. The skies were the limit. I know that some held on to those dreams, they pushed through obstacles and gave it all they had. They weren't willing to take no for an answer. But what about the rest of us? What happened to all of my childhood dreams?

I've been thinking back on my childhood a lot lately, mostly reflecting on art I did and I wondered what happened that I let it go. I'm sure my interests changed, I matured, so forth and so on. But then I wondered if maybe I didn't do certain things or pursue certain things because I knew it would be hard. That statement is true about me. I tend to gravitate toward things that are easy, well at least easier for me. And if there is a chance of failure, I'm generally not interested. I can look back and pin point times in my life that I didn't do something because I was afraid of failing. I was not at all interested in facing criticism that might make me feel less then I was. Does that make sense? I was afraid that if I failed everyone would see me fail. I think that I thought if others saw me fail that it really did mean I was less, that I was lacking, that I was not worth much. But that's not the case, is it. My worth is not defined by what I achieve or fail to achieve. My worth is defined in Christ.

All that said, I've decided it's okay to fail. I've decided I'm not going to take the easy way out, because believe me I wanted to. When I began this creative process a couple weeks ago, I thought about taking the easy way out; not trying, just finding something that would be easy, something I already knew how to do. BUT, things that are great are not easy.

It's been hard posting photos of my drawings because I know that they might just seem like scribbles. But to me they have become achievements. Every drawing will be better, even if I can't tell. Every step forward is an achievement, even if it's not seen.

(This last one has lots of scribbles, because I was having a hard time. Husband told me to draw circles to keep me loose, so that is what I do when I get stuck or discouraged. The bottom right drawing was my finale drawing for the day.)

I hope that one day I can explore every facet of my childhood dreams, I hope you will too. I'm going to change my stars! (Thanks "Rogue!")

April 9, 2013

Husband and I have been trying to establish a weekly date night. We had every intention of starting a weekly date night our very first week of married life; we all have those grand ideas of how we imagine it to go. We had discussed it before getting married and thought it was a good idea, but alas, life got away from us. I'm not saying we never went on dates or did special things for each other; however it wasn't on a weekly basis. Looking back on it, it is easy to think of most nights as date nights, because we had spent nearly have of our relationship long distance. None the less, we are working on making it a routine.

Last night, Husband and I got to go on a very special date night. Husband took me to Dancing With the Stars! When Husband and I discussed living in California, I asked him if he could make that happen one day. I think it probably came out like this though, "So I get to go to Dancing With the Stars!" I was super excited when I found out that DWTS was a possibility. Let me tell you the short story of how it worked out.

Husband gave a tour of his Studio to one of our friends, Monique. She had posted pictures of her and her daughters at the Studio on Facebook and her friend Beverley saw her photos. Beverley was curious if Husband would be willing to do a Studio Swap. A tour at Husband's Studio for tickets to DWTS. Beverley is a singer on DWTS. So there you have it! God is so good!

We planned to leave the house by 1:30pm. We were supposed to be at our designated gate by 3:15pm and seated by 4:20pm. The show would be shot from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. We left so early because we weren't sure how traffic would go, but the timing worked out. We got there with plenty of time to spare. We did a little walking before getting in line, mostly because we were trying to figure out where to go and then we stood in line for a while. By the time we were headed inside, I could barely walk. My feet were killing me.
The paperwork stated that no cells or cameras would be allowed in the studio so we took a before photo at home. They were serious about the no phone policy; they confiscated our phone before we entered and we picked it up when we left.

(Husband and I before the show)

The show was a blast! It's basically exactly what you see at home, except that it was live of course and we got to see the dance floor get set up during commercial breaks for each individual dance. We also clapped and yelled A LOT. My favorite part of the show was the dancing, but that is why I have always liked it, I love dancing. I part of me wishes I could be a dancer, maybe I'll work on that one day. :)
Once the show ended, we were dismissed and retrieved our phone. I probably could have managed to walk to the car; however, I started to get a blister on the back of my heel. I was impressed that I only got one blister; I was pretty excited about it. Because of my blister Husband carried me to the car. He's the BEST! He even carried me up four flights of stars.

(Husband and I after the show)

We were pretty exhausted by the end, so we picked up a pizza and ended our evening with a movie.

April 4, 2013

When Husband and I first moved here, it was hard, it was very hard. I was pushing against the culture difference with everything I could. I simply wanted it to feel like home, which home for me is Joplin. I part of me in past experiences would get mad. Not yell or throw things mad, just mad. But in this case I never got mad, I was just very sad and very overwhelmed. When we first arrived I could very easily point out everything I did NOT like about living here; the traffic, the over population, the lack of "country space," the lack of parking lots, etc. etc. However, today as I was walking to the grocery store and I was reminded about all the things I now enjoy about where we live. Now don't get me wrong, there are things that are still very hard for me and things that aren't my favorite, but it was nice to be able to think about our life now and reflect on the good things God has provided and the great opportunities and doors he has opened for us.

So I wanted to share some of my favorite things about living in Burbank. Technically our address is Glendale, but a majority of what we do is in Burbank and nobody actually knows where Glendale is. :)
My list below is in no particular order.

1. We hike every Saturday morning with friends. We wake up at 8:00am, Husband makes breakfast and we're usually hiking by 8:40ish. When we first started hiking it was so hard, I was so out-of shape, but let's be honest, I still am out of shape. However, my body is now use to the hike, so I no longer feel like passing out. I enjoy the trek up the mountain and things I've learned about how to make it up the mountain easier. One of the things I've learned is that Sunha and I can't talk when we go up steep sections of the mountain so that we can breathe instead. The guys however can chat the whole time. The mountain is also quiet; there aren’t a lot of quiet places in the city. Also, once you get to the top, whatever projects you have going on or stresses or concerns you may have are left at the bottom of the mountain. There was one time we hiked the mountain on a cloudy/foggy day and as we climbed the mountain the city disappeared. It was amazing. I love climbing the mountain because it's a special time with God too. You can't help but notice all the amazing things he does when you’re on the mountain.

2. I can walk to the grocery store. I never thought something simple like walking to the grocery store would be on this lists, but what can I say. There's just something nice about being able to walk to the store. I think I may like it so much simply for the walking part and that it is so convenient.

3. Husband and I don't eat out often, but when we do, we often eat at places that we never ate at back home. On Saturday's after our hike we usually eat at Tony's Deli a little Mom&Pop shop that sells the best deli sandwiches and potato salad. Another place we go is Sharky's. Both are great places to eat, and relatively cheap, probably because we always share.

4. While we have a tendency to spend our weekends working on home projects, it's really nice that there is usually always fun and free stuff to do in the Burbank area. In February we went to the opening night of "The Ladies of Animation" art gallery, it was really cool! We also went and checked out all the locations were The Office was filmed, that was great fun too!

5. We have a great Life Group and great friends. They are wonderful individuals and I greatly appreciate sharing life with them and having the opportunity to pray for one another as we seek to enrich our relationship with Christ and each other. We have also been blessed to have amazing experiences through the kindness and sharing of our friends.

6. I love our little home. We have slowly made our little apartment warm and cozy and I love having people over and sharing our space with them.

My hope is that this list will continue to grow. Maybe I'll do another post in a couple months, listing some of my new favorite things. Come visit me so I can share them with you. : )

I'm Samantha and this is a place to learn to live in the sweet graces of life. I'm a maker, a wife, and saved by the amazing grace of Jesus. I hope to inspire you to live in the sweet grace of your own unique journey. I'm passionate about community, creating, and grace. xoxo!

It's almost Christmas! Can you believe it?! Seeing as Christmas is so close and many of you might be snapping lots of photos of your...

DISCLAIMER: Elah Tree is a for-profit blog. At various times I do receive products or services compliments of various companies. All companies, organizations, and affiliates I choose to collaborate with are chosen by me. I am part of various affiliate programs, including Fotostrap and Skillshare. Items that have been sent free-of-charge are marked as "courtesy of" (c/o) in the outfit details section. The views and opinions expressed here are 100% my own. I only collaborate and partner with brands and products, that I truly love and value.